This is the official Blog for Tony Horton, creator of Power 90, Power Half Hour and P90X.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Below The Belt

While women have been told about the benefits of exercising their pelvic floor muscles (known as kegel exercises) to address a variety of issues from bladder control to improved sexual satisfaction, not a whole lot of men are aware of what it can do for them:

Okay, guys. No one wants to admit if they’ve considered buying a bottle of little blue pills, but the truth is erectile dysfunction (ED) effects 15-30 million men. The good news is that 40 percent of guys who deal with this problem and consistently do pelvic floor exercises for 6 months, first with a trainer and then on their own, regain their normal function au natural. Now that’s worth a try, wouldn’t you say? And if you start doing these exercises consistently, you’ll reduce your chances of ever having it happen in the first place.

Here’s the deal: Your pelvic floor muscles support your bowel and bladder, so you’re looking for that feeling you get when you’re clenched up, waiting to get into the men’s room before that bean burrito explodes in your pants or cutting your urine flow off in mid stream. When you tighten those muscles, you’ll know you’re doing it right because your penis should retract and your scrotum should lift. Tighten and hold for 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat. Do it as often as you like. The best part about doing this routine is that you can do it any time, anywhere, and nobody can tell you’re doing it.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of factors that can contribute to ED such as diabetes, vascular and kidney disease. Maintaining your healthy diet and sticking with your Power 90 or P90X programs will make a big difference not just for your overall health and fitness, but to your little buddy, too.

21 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Tony,

Thanks for bringing this male dilemma to the forefront and enlightening us all on healthy ways to deal with it. Even though I personally believe that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion by the big pharma firms, in addition to being mostly psychogenic in nature, meaning there are situational and/or emotional issues causing the poor guy's troubles in the sack.

I think too many guys out there today think it's normal to be ready to rumble at the toss of a dime; I mean, c'mon, throw away the porn! It's not reality, folks. Because sex in our society has increasingly become an empty feeling connected to physical gratification instead of an intense emotional belief linked to actual love and respect, ED has reared its ugly head way up high in the performance-oriented 21st century.

In reality, many ED issues that are physical in nature are caused by years of alcohol, drug, diet and tobacco abuse leading to vascular and diabetic problems. Kegel exercises, regualar exercise and good diet done over a period of time can definitely squarely kick the problem in the ass, but consistency is really key here, in my humble opinion. Also, a simple internet search can lead to a variety of natural solutions for ED.

So, tune out and turn off, folks. Listen to the silence, it could be the answer.

On a sad note, here's a story about a lady from my office...stepped off a bus in front of my building Labor at 11:00 AM and was beaten and robbed...it's worth a read, she's a nice lady...starts like this:ALBANY -- The face of downtown's latest crime spree is bruised, broken and soon to be repaired with a titanium plate.This is the damage wrought by two thugs who assaulted and robbed Louise Finkell while she waited for a bus Monday morning across the street from the state Capitol, according to police and her family.

Finkell, 57, a state worker and city resident, was punched from behind without warning just after 10 a.m. Labor Day at Washington Avenue and Swan Street -- a corner that on most days would have been mobbed with state workers. She was headed to meet her daughter for a day of shopping at Stuyvesant Plaza.

"The first thing they did was not ask her for her pocketbook but to strike her," said Finkell's outraged older brother, Anthony Tartaglia, angered further by the way the attack on his sister was first reported by police to the media -- as a simple robbery..."

p90x is a great program. my wife is very fit and has pushed me for a year to join her in her quest. i have tried many programs and yours is the only one that speak and pushes me to really put in the effort. thanks for the blog to read updates and feel a part of the right program for me.

What you are describe as stopping the flow of urine, mid-flow, is exactly what I encourage all my Yoga Students to engage during their Asana Practice. As you are probably aware, in Yoga terms this is known as "Mula Bandha", or the "Root Lock". As a result I've had countless men and women share with me the benefits of engaging these muscles not only during Yoga, but also during their workouts (works great during strength training), while standing in line at the checkout stand, you name it. I've heard everything from improved performance (on the Yoga mat, in the gym, AND in bed) to relief of ED to urinary incontinence being completely remedied, all without drugs.

Thanks for sharing this with all your fans and P90X'ers here on your blog and for addressing this potentially embarrassing topic that too few seem to want to discuss let alone teach to others.

P.S. -- I'm on my second round of P90X and love your program. See ya when I hit "play" on the 'ol dvd player tomorrow a.m.